Confirmed the news about the death in combat of Major Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz, by the President of the Republic in Arms Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y del Castillo; he would designate among his close generals Major Dominican General Máximo Gómez Báez so that the courageous and experienced cavalry officer would assume, not replace, the military leadership of Camagüey. In this way, the collapse of the revolution in the region would be avoided, after so many efforts made by the illustrious Cuban lawyer to carry it out victoriously. Nothing was lost.

Knowing the efficient military service record of the Dominican officer not only in his native land but also in the campaign carried out in the Guantanamo Valley, among other combative actions carried out in the eastern part of the island, there was no time to lose in making the decision, neither did Céspedes have another chief who gathered the culture and personal virtues to carry out such a high responsibility:  to try to push forward the struggle in a region of little more than 20 thousand square kilometers of surface, for more, in crucial moments in which the enemy could take advantage of an attempt to move to the strategic offensive, by the way, which he was not able to calculate.

The days were passing …

On July 1st, at the San Diego farm, “after such a long and tiring march”, he made contact with Francisco Sánchez Betancourt, a worthy Camagüeyan, who offered him “confidences” regarding the operational situation in the territory. Afterwards, he directed “with practical men and of all confidence that Betancourt provides me” an urgent office to the acting chief of the barracks Julio Sanguily Garrite giving him an appointment in the camp, La Horqueta farm, on July 7, 1873.

On the 5th he would be received with admirable courtesy and attention by the Englishman, Henry Reeve, in his camp situated in the estate of La Crimea, on the route to the headquarters of the cavalry, in La Aurora. It was precisely in this last place, where the announcement of the arrival of “El Mayor” to the official camp was received, -for sure Reeve, with a scowl and some amazement in the look that he directed to his close companions, moment in which he would wait in rectification sign that “El Mayor had been one and had fallen in Jimaguayú”-, which did not mean to lower the hierarchy and military merits known of the Dominican chief; Rather, it seemed his precision of a ponderous emphasis on the beloved fallen leader, which was so admired even among the soldiers of the Camagüey. [1] As proof of his openness and combative friendship toward Gómez, Reeve would give him a horse.

Gómez in command

After greetings and change of orders, finally in La Horqueta, on the 7th, Máximo Gómez received the command of the Military Department of Camagüey.  Already in the tent, Gómez would write in his Diary: “After I presented to Sanguily the Government’s orders, I was taken in charge, without ceremony, of the Department. I have formed the whole force and I intend to speak to it, but I am impressed and I can hardly coordinate the ideas”.

The next morning, on the 8th, over the green Camaguey’s prairie, Gómez would review 500 riders and 800 children, a contingent that was part of the forces of Las Villas subordinated to Agramonte. On that occasion, Gómez would vividly write: “At the sight of this small but well-ordered and organized corps of the Army, it was not for less than feeling vividly concerned with the vivid memory of General Agramonte (…) Agramonte, inspired by pure patriotism, left the Revolution assured in this part (…) I have felt at the sight of all this almost envious of the General in his grave” [2].

Then, among other changes, Gómez restructured the Division of Las Villas, asked his combatants in the East to return in order to strengthen the new command, and arranged for the incorporation into those units of the combatants who remained in the Prefectures, naming Colonel Julio Sanguily, head of operations of the Northern and Eastern Brigades [3].

After this, in Antón de Guanausí, on August 10, a new structure was given to the Third Corps of the Liberating Army of Camagüey. From then on, Gómez would begin a strong campaign to evict Hispanic soldiers from the Camagüey. Only with this troop endowed with iron discipline, high combative morale and extreme courage, would he achieve results worthy of his position and new responsibility, as would be proven in the new combat scenarios. And in that new campaign, the undefeated Major Agramonte would march at his side [4].

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1] Souza, Benigno: Máximo Gómez. The Generalissimo. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, Havana, 1972, p. 83.

2] The notes have been taken from Diario de Máximo Gómez. Centenario Collection, Cuban Institute of the Book, Havana, 1968.

3] Julio Sanguily had even occupied the interim leadership of the Military Department of Puerto Príncipe after the death of Major Agramonte.

4] It is worth incorporating Gómez’s expression regarding his pondering criteria on the Major, who won as soon as he arrived in Camagüey and after making his first contacts with the officers and soldiers: “Ah, how fate did not unite us on the battlefield! How we would have completed ourselves perhaps and who knows if I would have made him live for the Nation before dying for Glory”. In: Pastrana, Juan Jiménez: Ignacio Agramonte. Documents. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, Havana, 1974, p. 347.